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CO22 GITS EVOLUTION - main thread

RELEASE - Evolution 22 player Co-op mission

One of the most popular missions in arma1 - built originally by Kiljoy, developed by GITS and many others for Arma1 then BIS (partially) and me, Razor and Psychobastard for Arma2 and featuring a host of contributing scripters (Dr Eyeball, Xeno, VFarber, Aeroson, Tophe, Mandoble, Rocket, R3F Madbull, [GNC]Lord-MDB, GITS BlazesBoylan, [WD]Elvis, GITS BigPickle, GITS Tankbuster, Scorpiomidget etc)

Will run on build 52.103279 onwards (current non-dev patch and above, including dev builds)
Will run with or without the awesome R3Fweapons mod (set in parameters) which gives you thermal and night sights and long range sniper rifles

Play it here
our longtime server host www.Gamingdeluxe.co.uk has launched a permanent public open GITS Evolution server - just filter for GITS in missions
or on one of our servers - see below

Mission goal
One of the most popular MP missions in the Arma series.
ALPHA release: Multiplayer mission capturing 11 increasingly harder enemy zones using land, sea and air assets, artillery and vehicles. Functions include: Towing, ranked ammo crates, vehicles and support options for player progression, supporting AI, equipment drops and artillery from smoke and flares up to nukes. 15 complex side-missions for your squad to carry out: CSAR, ambush, assassination, rendition, extermination, air, water and land patrols, area defence and airbase raid.

Mission features
- most parameters working in server parameters - lots of customisable elements in mission
- mission running really smooth! with loads of AI
- player respawn
- vehicle respawn (at airbase for helis, at destroy site for land vehicles)
- vehicle repair, rearm and refuel in airbase, or at FARP's
- Ammo crates featuring all weapons and items available in Alpha (bug free!) including full frogman eqpt crate
- full loadout save (at ammo crates (thanks aeroson!) - marked on map) - including vest, backpack, uniform, ammo, weapons, weaponitems, equipped items, grenades etc
- dynamic player markers on map
- abandoned and damaged vehicle markers on map
- MHQ (with heal action) - temporarily a pickup truck! - respawn to it using the flag action at base
- ReconHQ - created by officer class - respawn to it using the flag action at base
- Both MHQ and ReconHQ are destroyed in water
- Teamkiller jail - strips kit after -5pts and leaves you to rot at -50 pts.
- Engineer can make mobile FARP (repair, refuel and rearm) if he has a Toolkit and is near a repair truck (temp: Ifrit standing in for repair truck) which he can lock
- Medic can make a MASH (forward heal point) if he has a Medikit (temp: toilet cubicle - bug: action not global at the moment so it only appears to him)
- Intro music and load screen
- globalised heal actions on MHQ and MASH's
- Rank system implemented for ammo crates and vehicles (default parameter is 30 points per rank)
- pilots can access choppers from the start unless parameter set to 150 points.
- missile cameras for helis with missiles
- Engineer can lock repair trucks (ifrit - temp)
- Player squad join system - either use U/T menu Transfer option or use action on flag at base
- base loadout tweaked (if playing unlocked it sets the weapons to high quality and full items, if playing locked it gives really basic stuff) - features standard kit for all players except pilots
- custom support sounds and nuke sounds
- BigPickle added an intro by [WD]Elvis
- added save kit to ammo crates after ranking up (was deleted)
- added save weapons to recon HQ
- added flashlight to inventory (for night spawners)
- better colour definition for custom actions (mando hitch, crew, eng lock, etc)
- each class has different squad support functions (medic, engineer, officer, sniper, grenadier, pilot, AT, AA, MG, spy)
- all players can build obstacles to block roads and make small protective defences (currently brick pallets!)
- added mortar rounds (flares, smoke, laser etc) to camp mortars and spawned/support menu mortars
- added working flares/smoke to support options
- enemy reinforcements by truck
- added POW camp (parameter) for more difficult capturing method - need to bring the POW/officer back to POW camp.
- added hint to new players to remind them to save loadout (thanks w00der)
- added spy class Alpha 4-3 lite rifleman - can go undercover etc (See guide for full details) - can toggle off in parameters for public servers. useful team member.
- added killcam (parameter)
- fixed vehicle marking system (integrated with Tophe's excellent vehicle respawn script)
- fixed bug losing ammo with R3F and spy holstering weapon
- support lumes definitely work at night (U menu)
- added "officer killed by" message to shame idiots
- added tankbusters chopper killer - one rocket will now kill a chopper and award you points for the kill
- AI difficulty management script developed - testing in 2.0 to see if it is now too easy...
- killcam and base raiders defaulted OFF
- group will score points if non-officer POW's are transported back to POW camp
- added parameter for reinforcement delay
- added parameter for AI skill
- added 3 parameters for vehicle respawn delay (air, land, abandoned)

2.5 changes
thanks to scorpiomidget for help with this version
- expansion: carry out a covert enemy airfield base raid to reduce enemy raiders and aircraft - select parameter "counterattacks advanced" to experience this
- R3F logistics system (store mortars in vehicles, load ATV into hunter, tow damaged trucks back to FARP's for repair etc)
- Time of day selectable as parameter
- Weather effects

T/U menu:
This mission features a custom support and options menu with the following features:
New: additional icons created for support and assignment menus
- ADDED requirement that you have GPS/RADIO for calling support using T/U menu

-Options: set autochange view distance for aircraft/ground. Turn grass on and off
-Transfer: click a players name and then click join to join his squad and see his team on HUD display
-Recruitment: recruit AI to the control of your team leader - numbers and types ranked (can be changed in parameters)
-Support: 24 different support options (ranked) - some working some not depending on alpha development (can be changed in parameters)
--Nuke works!
--marker smoke, motorbikes, boats, ammo crates, minefields, flares, etc all work
--all statics are mortars for now
--artillery support (not fully working yet as bombs missing from the game)
-Assignments: 18 side missions from water patrol to exterminate cult to assassinate general to ambush troop convoy to rescue pilot, etc
1. water patrol
2. convoy ambush
3. land patrol available at corporal rank
4. destroy armour
5. combat search and rescue (doctor)
6. rescue pilot (from corporal rank)
7. rendition
8. ambush troop convoy
9. rescue agent
10. defence (2 levels - corporal rank and major rank)
11. exterminate cult (3 levels pvt, cpl and major)
12. assassinate general
13. air patrol
14. air assault

R3F logistics
Load items into vehicles, tow vehicles to each other, move static weapons and small objects about etc

Work in progress
- medic should score points for healing
- city markers not going to current target city for new JIP (you can workaround this with radio 0-0-2)
- 3 types of enemy base raiders (under trial) - sea/air/land borne raiders (parameter) - when they occupy Blufor comms tower, Support GPS goes offline.
- disabled heli reinforcements for now as they just will not land! and they have no parachutes...
- cleaning up "zombies" at spawn and crap dropped from ammo crates
- capturing officer - penalty fails?
- POWs provide intel on next objectives
- improve enemy mortars

Alpha restrictions
- HALO - experimental HALO function - use at your own risk! (currently no working parachutes so enjoy the flight!)
- U/T menu support (for artillery elements that BIS has not yet enabled - currently uses rockets etc for simulated artillery)
- beware of destroying ifrits as helicopter/MANPAD rockets and MG's causing the explosion can cause client crashes (known issue in A3 alpha) we know that an explosion (typically a M_PG_AT from ka60 but also sometimes RPG/NLAW and even a MG kill to destruction can cause crash when striking an ifrit
- Taking an MXM sniper rifle can fail to save your loadout properly - likely to be a config error in the BIS files. If this happens maybe take an EBR instead.

- FIXED by BIS - bug crashing servers when grenades were thrown was FIXED by BIS
- FIXED by BIS - currently vestitems do not get reloaded in DEV mode - this works perfectly in non-DEV

Playing the mission - strategies and tips

chiefly there are three strategies to improving your fun and balancing the game:1. make a custom profile
which sets the enemy skill as high as possible but sets their precision fairly low to give you extended firefights. with high "precisionenemy" the enemy aimbot you to death and it's not much fun - we have developed this version here for you to try out:

NOTE: steam writes over your profile every time you load it, so you need to make it read-only. You enable it with -profiles=

2. tweak the parameters
you can modify the parameters for your mission at start. The screenshots below show you how. The main parameters to consider changing are:

- "enemy presence" - this varies from 100% of enemy to 50% to 33% to 25%. Default is set to 100% and is challenging for an experienced team. Try turning this down a notch.- "reinforcement delay" - this isn't working properly yet, as the reinforcements are not behaving properly. hopefully it will be fixed soon. anyway, if they were working you'd be in more trouble than you are! set this to 5 minutes, the default is 4 mins. for hardcore, set it to 2 mins. how does it work? basically once you get the enemy infantry OR tank count below about 80% of their start value (and so long as the radio tower) is alive, reinforcements spawn every so often and come into the tower area, looking for a fight. as with all arma missions there are many ways to win. sneaking in to the tower with silencers and taking it down before killing 20% of the enemy means reinforcements will never be called. it's a completely different game to trying to batter your way in with vehicles.- "colonel rank points" - default is 180, but you can set it to 6 if you're wanting all of the artillery options (currently not available as alpha has no working bombs) from the get-go. Call them in on your U menu. It also means you can access all the best kit (bigger backpacks, better weapons, aircraft and armoured vehicles (as they are added to the game they will feature in the mission in this way, currently a ka60 is set to colonel rank, it would normally be a lieutenant class vehicle).- "Extra weapons" - currently set to ON. This allows players to create a unique item depending on their class, normally if they are carrying the right equipment for their class. once they are available, MG class will be able to spawn a static MG if they are carrying an MX200, GL guy can spawn a GMG, AA guy can spawn an AA gun, AT guy can spawn an AT launcher, etc - (currently all they can spawn is a mortar! as nothing is released yet). Importantly this feature also uparms planes and vehicles. In A2 for example this makes the 2 A10's have different loadouts - 1 has 8 mavericks and the other has lots more hydras and GAU8 rounds, and all planes have improved AA capability. If you're not a realism nut then this can really make the difference in our mission.- "AI support" - you can recruit AI with U menu. if you set this to ranked you start out with 2 options, if you set it to unlocked you can call in an 8 man team to help you/ distract the enemy.- "player rank lock" - set both vehicles and weapons to unlocked for easiest play- Area artillery cost - turn this up to inhibit public players who like to arty your carefully planned ambush! turn it down to bring carnage when you're feeling bruised by the relentless enemy.

screenies
NOTE: the default settings are challenging but fair. The screenshots below demonstrate the parameter range from easy to insane.

parameters menu button
easy settings
hard settings
I have added some new parameters since so be sure to check them out!

3. play strategy
ok there are many ways to play this mission, but here are a few tips:

1. prepare - decide what you are going to do (stealth or steamroller) and choose best classes to go with this.

stealth tactics
-- The spy class (currently still porting my code from A2) can do the mission alone if he is careful to avoid detection.
-- The officer is good because he can make a reconHQ, which you can always spawn at even if it is broken.
-- having a sniper on overwatch makes a lot of sense. with the ladder function (not ported yet) he can get on roofs and then pick off key enemies in the way of the infiltration team - my youtube vids have a good example of sniper ownage in A2 fallujah map.
-- a back-up apache (or ka60) standing off at 3km is also useful to pick off enemy vehicles selected by the recon team. don't let him go caveman and kill everything or you will be overwhelmed by reinforcements flooding into the AO.

steamroller tactics
-- engineer sets up FARP at position in good cover with nice run into the area (e.g. gully, street between buildings, along beach in defillade with ocean or open ground to rear). this can be used to repair captured vehicles and turn them on the enemy, as well as repairing and rearming your own vehicles.
-- set up MHQ in cover to rear of FARP - this is your layup position - respawn here if you need some breathing room (e.g. if reconHQ is flooded)
-- put some armoured vehicles to front of FARP ideally with some houses, huts, rocks, walls or fortifications offering some flank or track cover for the vehicles.
layup team then panels the town from here, moving forward 100m at a time to pre-arranged points. Bring a spare repair truck (ifrit) and make new farps at each new objective. use the reconHQ to spawn at these points, keep MHQ in rear. medics make a MASH near your firing position to heal at.
-- have sniper sit back at MHQ and use laser designator to call air support (when available in A3)
-- have AA guy sitting near rear FARP taking out the aircraft

lastly
- make sure you have a demo charge for the tower - drag it to your pack with left button to avoid it disappearing
- be sure to save your loadout at the ammo crates/reconHQ/ flag
- DO NOT kill civs or the officer or POWs as you get punished with score loss
- use U/Transfer to join each others' team so you can see each other
- ALWAYS carry 10 first aid kits and 10 grenades (the nades will save your ass - learn to use em)
- if you are really struggling: (good tip for new players in your team) in the U menu select options and turn the grass off if you need to be able to see enemies while lying prone. to turn it back on, use the bottom slider to turn it past 2, then click transfer or any other menu before closing the dialog.

if you want to play with an experienced crew add me on steam and we'll show you the ropes.my mission guide goes into the mission features at lengthdyslexcis arma tactics guide is an awesome intro to playing arma coherently.

anyway, more later... feel free to host it

Note to community posters:
My team is working hard to provide this mission for Arma3 and lots of folks are now enjoying it - even with it's flaws
Many of the guys in this thread are behaving really well with their feedback and you can see we are doing our best to respond positively and quickly.

If you experience a bug please try to provide appropriate info including:
- what kind of server environment you were in (LAN, dedi, own PC)
- version of mission
- what class you were playing
- approx number of players
- approx stage of mission
- what you were doing at the time
- what weapon you had equipped
- what assignment you were on/ support you called in etc

Any suggestions about improving code - please provide the replacement code suggestions or links to an enlightening thread if you can.
Making demands, overly negative criticisms, or flawed commentaries on how bad my code is (I'm an amateur!) will be politely ignored.

thanks guys - great to hear from you all... good game isn't it?
well breakfast bowl is put aside and now i'm starting to build the template in A2 to port over...
should have a testable mission by mid afternoon...

the bells and whistles (armour types, air assets, T menu, side missions, support options, R3F logistics, AC130, mando hitch etc etc) will come later, just gonna try and get the basic city capture working on Stratis with the basic friendly and enemy units. so here goes (cue lots of staring at classnames and copy and pasting them from A3 to A2 template...)